Top articles of the week | June 17th

June 17, 2017

Every week, we put together a list of our top 5 articles of the past week. Happy reading!

Can Retailers Escape the Scourge of Free Shipping? Knowledge @ Wharton

This is a great exploration of the addiction of retailers with free shipping (and how truly bad it is for their business). Don’t get me wrong, as a consumer I love free shipping but retailers are struggling to turn that into profit. This article goes really in depth about the challenge of free shipping for retailers.

Goldman Set Out to Automate IPOs and It Has Come Far, Really Fast Bloomberg

Do you think that automation is far away? Think again. This is a fascinating read about how Goldman Sachs reengineered one of Wall Street’s most lucrative services. The focus was on digitizing bankers’ workflow and using technology to enhance their advice to clients. It isn’t all gravy though; there will be a challenge to replenish young talent as well.

Being Transparent About Your Long Term Strategy Fred Wilson, AVC

Elon Musk famously published his long term strategy in 2006. Fred Wilson argues that many companies can benefit from the same thing. He uses Coinbase as an example and highlights their plan to grow the number of people using cryptocurrency.

The Story Origin Story of the iPhone The Verge

Great insight into the making of the most successful product in history, the iPhone. I’m not per se an iPhone fan but one has to marvel at sheer size of this business within Apple. This article offers some history as to how the phone came to be.

The Amazon-Walmart Showdown That Explains the Modern Economy NY Times

You might have heard the small news story this week of Amazon buying Whole Foods for a gazillion dollars. This NY Times articles explore how this acquisition is part of the larger showdown for the future of retail but also the massive implications for the economy. The effects of the power law are also becoming more pronounced with a larger share of the pie for winning companies.